Why Mark Zuckerberg’s Paternity Leave Is A Win For Women

How Mark Zuckerberg Is Winning for Both Men & Women

Hoodie-wearing Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced lately that hell take time off — two whole months! — after his wife Priscilla Chan has their first baby.

This is a big deal for working men both at Facebook and in the U.S.( and their families ). Guys here rarely take paternity leave — few companies even bother offering it. For the chief executive of a Fortune 100 company to take leave, is just unheard of.

Zuckerbergs move signals that its OK for men to prioritize family over their jobs — at least for a hot second when you have a brand-new infant at home. Theres a good chance hell inspire other fathers to take time off.

And that is amazing news for women — thats right, girls — who face serious penalties and discrimination at work for becoming moms. When men take paternity leave, it is a signal that juggling work and family isnt only lady business, it promotes real understanding and empathy between the sexes at work and runs a long way in eliminating outdated, useless stereotypes that harm everyone.

It promotes a different sense of cooperation when the women and men are both taking leave and understanding what its like to have newborns at home, Nancy Altobello, the vice chair for talent at the consulting firm EY, told The Huffington Post this summer while explaining why the firm promotes fathers to take paternity leave.

Working women and men are both up against certain stereotypes and expectations when they become mothers. For men, this mostly works in their favor on the job and hurts them at home. Females, well, theyre only screwed either way.

Priscilla and I are starting to get ready for our daughter’s arrival. We’ve been picking out our favorite childhood…

Theres a cultural expectation that a good father prioritizes his chore because he is the breadwinner — indeed, fathers often attain more money after having children, studies help find.

And despite the fact that girls are the sole or primary breadwinner in 40 percentageof U.S. households with children, its assumed theyll prioritize family over run and, as a result, become less reliable and less hard-working.

Mothers are less likely to be hired for jobs, to be perceived as competent at work or becomes payable as much as their male colleagues with the same qualifications, Claire Cain Miller explained last year in the New York Times, citing an extensive 15 -year study that indicated women pay lessened 4 percent for each child they had. Mens pay increased more than 6 percentage after having children.

Some research has found that the pay gap between mothers and non-mothers is wider than between men and women.

If a woman signals that work is her priority — over her children — she operates into problems. Shes judged highly harshly for being a terrible mother.

Women are fundamentally[ supposed to be] oriented to the family not to work, ” Robin Ely, a professor at Harvard Business School, who studies gender expectations at work, explained to HuffPost a few months ago. The expectation is if you dont do it, then youre not a good mother.

When Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced this fall that shed only be gone a couple of weeks after she gives birth to twins in December, critics pounced. Marissa Mayers Two-Week Maternity Leave Is Bullsh* t, was the Daily Beast’s headline. There were similar hot takes all around the internet.

Referring to Mayers two-week maternity leave stint in 2012 after she had just landed at Yahoo, the Telegraph summed up her double-bind pretty well: “Her 14 -day maternity leave caused many to topic her priorities as a mother. Others cast doubt on her dedication to her career.”

Men face a different challenge: one that’s become more problematic as more young dads of Zuckerberg’s generation actively want to be more involved mothers. These men run into problems because guys are often stigmatized or penalise if they demonstrate that work isn’t their top priority.

The idea of a guy taking paternity leave was just[ stimulates face] for my directors. Guys only dont do that. They pestered me, ” one consultant at a prominent firm told researchers from Boston University in a recent study.

“Then one of the partners said to me, You have a choice to attain: Are you going to be a professional or are you going to only be an average person in your field? If you are going to be a professional then that means nothing can be as important to you as your work.'”

Tell that to his little baby. Human who take paternity leave set themselves up to be more involved mothers for that child’s entire life. Seems important, yah? Oh, and fathers who are more involved at home surely attain life easier for their partners. Too often it’s working women who wind up taking on more of the parenting work in dual-income couples.

Paternity leave is a really powerful lever in changing these outdated paradigm. In Sweden, which provides paid time off for fathers, women earning potential rises 7 percentage on average for every month a father takes off.

Some enlightened employers are distinguishing this — including Facebook, Spotify and Netflix — and treat parental leave in a gender neutral way, offering equal amounts to men and women.

Facebook offers four months leave to dads — but most do like Zuckerberg and only take two.